


Interlude:【Promise】

by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk)



Series: I'll Be Your【Savior】 [1]
Category: Astral Chain (Video Game)
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, I will never not write an enby mc, Missing Scene, Protective Akira Howard, Sibling Love, also fuck the canon timeline, f!player, give them some rest @ Yosef, i just need more Howard Twins content okay, m!akira, much less a week or something, post File 02: [Awake], there's no way the entire game happens in less than a month, well sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 02:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21749575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F117_Nighthawk/pseuds/F-117%20Nighthawk
Summary: Promise: to declare that something will happenAkira won't let his sister bear this burden on her own
Relationships: Akira Howard & Jin Wong, Akira Howard & Player Character, Player Character & Jin Wong
Series: I'll Be Your【Savior】 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572733
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	Interlude:【Promise】

**Author's Note:**

> okay so, this started as 5+1 about Jin, and then I finished the game and it became a 5+1 about the Howard Twins, and then I kept writing and it is... not anymore. So here's the first part.
> 
> Also? the soundtrack SLAPS
> 
> (I'm sorry for whoever normally reads my voltron stuff i'm so hyperfocused on this game I can't even describe it much less finish Consequences)

Jin sighed as he entered the infirmary. There was still only one occupied bed, one chair occupied next to it. Brenda spun away from her desk as he entered and nodded in greeting. “Her vitals are stable.”

“No change?”

She shook her head. “None readable by common medical instruments, but if yours and Alica’s reports are correct, she’s probably just slowly recovering her energy. Controlling a Legion takes a lot, and from what I read she used just about all of it.”

Jin looked at the figure slumped in the chair by the bed. “And him?”

Brenda’s smile was sad. “Hasn’t left her side. Normally, I’d kick him out at this point, but after what happened I don’t have the heart.”

Jin nodded and moved to stand next to the chair. Aiken was still on the bed, crimson hair flayed out on the pillow, stringy with dried sweat. He couldn’t shake the picture of it as blue as the Legions, of the glowing streaks snaking up her cheeks as she swung her Legion around with such force that the berserk Legions had no choice but to step back, of the mix of pride and terror on Akira’s face as he watched her. 

And now she was here, comatose on an infirmary bed, and he was asleep next to her, hand clinging desperately to hers like if he let go she would disappear. Like Max had.

Max. Damn, idiotic, self-sacrificing Max.

Jin didn’t want to be the one taking care of the twins. It should have been _Max._ He with the dad jokes and the kind words and general _dadness._ But Max had stayed to hold the berserk Legions off. He’d made a call and Jin knew Max would never have been able to live with another choice, any other choice that left them with no Legions, with the world in danger, with his _kids_ in danger.

But it still left them clinging to each other in the infirmary. 

And so, as the unofficial-uncle/family friend/now squad leader, they were left to him. 

“Akira,” he murmured, gently running a hand through the boy’s dark hair. He was still so _young._ “Akira, come on, you need a shower and some food.”

Akira stirred, nuzzling his head into the crook of his arm. “G’w’y, D’d.”

Jin’s heart throbbed in pain at the other’s small voice. “Akira.”

“Ugh, Dad, go--Jin?”

Jin watched Akira’s face flit through emotions as his brain caught up with events and he remembered where he was. Confusion, worry, and realization before crumpling like he was trying not to cry. He turned back to his sister. “Jin.”

“Akira, you need to get some food.”

Akira didn’t move beyond shaking his head.

“Akira.”

“No.”

“Akira, _listen to me._ I _know_ that you’re hurting right now. I _know_ that all you want to do right now is protect your family, but you cannot do that if you do not take care of yourself too. You need to eat something at the very least.”

“I’m not _leaving_ her!”

 _“Akira--_ ”

“No, Jin! I’m _not!_ She’s still hurt and the Legions can’t help and Dad--Dad--” His words choked off and Jin’s heart broke a little more. Akira scrubbed at his eyes with the hand not holding his sister’s, desperately trying not to seem like there were tears slipping down his cheeks. “Dad isn’t here and she’s--Jin--fuck, what if she doesn’t wake up? What if Dad sacrificed himself for nothing?”

Jin bent down so he was more on the other’s eye level. Akira had given up on hiding the tear tracks, letting them roll down his cheeks freely. His eyes were pleading with Jin, reminding him of the time when Max had lost his eye and he had taken care of the twins, of the two ten-year-olds pleading with him to bring their dad home. He couldn’t do that this time. “Akira. I promise she will wake up. She will be fine.”

Akira leaned forward, burying his face in Jin’s shoulder. “I can’t lose her too.”

Jin wrapped his arms around the other, trying to offer what comfort he could without being the one person Akira truly wanted at that moment. “You won’t.”

* * *

“Mmmmmmgh.”

“Aiken?”

She whined and turned over slightly to try and block out the light hitting her eyelids. God, everything _hurt._

“Doctor Moreno, I think she’s waking up.”

That voice…“‘Kira?”

“Hey there.”

Aiken finally opened her eyes, squinting against the harsh light. Akira was leaning over her, his dark hair disheveled and falling into his eyes. His face was tired, bags under his eyes that had too little light in them, but underneath was a relieved smile. She glanced around behind him, registering the sights and sounds around her. Beeping, bright white light, metal, curtains? The infirmary? “What happened?”

“You used up too much energy recapturing your Legion,” another voice came. Akira sat back slightly, letting a woman in a lab coat with blue hair into her view. “Your body needed time to readjust to the Legion Sync after recapturing it, which it didn’t get on the Astral Plane, so it happened once you got back. You’ve been out for three days. How are you feeling?”

“Ow.”

The woman (Doctor Moreno?) laughed lightly. “I can imagine. You’re not physically injured, but from what I hear you did a lot of acrobatics. I’m ordering you to take it easy for a few days, but you’re good to move. I believe the Commander wanted to see you when you woke up. I’ll let him know you’re awake. Akira, if you could keep an eye on her?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.” The doctor turned slightly to look at Aiken again. “Between you and me, the only time he’s left this room is when Jin dragged him out for food yesterday. I need you to keep an eye on him too.”

_“Hey!”_

She left with a grin, leaving Aiken giving her brother a glare and Akira pouting at her side. “You made Jin drag you out.”

“I--It’s been a hard few days, okay?”

She softened the glare and reached out to grab his hand. He squeezed back and released a deep breath. “Help me up?” Akira nodded, pulling her hand as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She winced and wobbled a bit, but managed to stand. “God, I’m so sore.”

“I’ll take you home once we meet with the Commander and you can get some sleep in a decent bed. I’ll even make you some mac’n’cheese.”

“Mmm,” she mumbled, leaning forward into Akira’s shoulder. “You make a tempting offer.”

He grinned. “Offer? Who said you could refuse it? Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

Aiken kicked the door open before dragging herself in. Akira trailed behind her, gently closing the door and toeing his shoes off. “Dad’s gonna grumble at you for putting scuff marks on the door again, ‘Ken. You gotta stop kicking it open with your work boots.”

“Dad does that all the time when he’s carrying stuff.”

“And the point is that he’s _carrying stuff._ You’re _not.”_

“I really don’t see how that’s much of a difference.”

Akira threw his hands in the air. “Because you’re _not carrying stuff!”_

“So if I _was_ carrying stuff, then I could kick it open?”

“No, because you’re still kicking it _with your work boots.”_

“What about _not_ my work boots?”

“Look, just don’t abuse the door, okay?”

“It’s not like it’s a Vendor-3.”

“It’s still robotic! You don’t wanna piss off the robots.”

“Why, you have secret knowledge of a robot uprising?”

“No.”

“Then why do you care?”

“Why do _you_ care so much? You’re being extremely unreasonable.”

 _“You’re_ the one being unreasonable.”

“Am not.”

“Am too.”

“Am _not.”_

“Am _too.”_

_“Daaad, tell A--”_

Both twins froze mid-sentence. Aiken lowered her eyes to stare at the ground; Akira’s hands fell back to his sides. “I--sorry. I--”

Aiken didn’t respond but lifted a hand to swipe across her face.

“Aiken?” Akira hesitantly stepped towards her, one hand outstretched. 

“Sorry--sorry it just-- _fuck,”_ her voice broke with the weight of the emotion in it. “It just hit me that Dad isn’t here. He isn’t here and we _left him_ in the Astral Plane and who knows if he’ll be able to come _back.”_

They tipped towards each other, crashing into the other’s shoulder and their arms wrapping around like a lifeline. “We’ll find him.”

“What if we _don’t?”_ Aiken sobbed.

Akira had tears in his own eyes, but he willed his voice to stay strong. He’d had three days to process while Aiken was unconscious, she was the one that needed comfort right now. “We _have_ to. He promised he’d come back, right? He’ll come back, and we’ll get all the Legions back, and everything will be okay.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

* * *

Akira jerked back to consciousness. He and Aiken had taken the blow-up mattress into the middle of the living room, covered it with every blanket they could find, and fallen asleep curled into each other. It was the first time they’d done that since before basic training. Aiken was still tucked against his chest, breathing sleep-deep with no signs of nightmares. What had woken him up?

His ears finally registered the insistent beeping emanating from the table they’d shoved against the wall. “Fuck,” he mumbled, rolling over as he did the best he could to move without waking Aiken up. Both their radios were begging for attention. “Fuck--hang _on_ a minute Commander, god what happened to two days off--Yes, I _hear_ you if you wake Aiken up I _swear to god--_ There we go. This is Akira Howard.”

“Heh, didn’t expect _you_ to pick up this radio, Akira.”

He glanced down at the radio he’d grabbed. It was indeed Aiken’s radio. “It’s dark, okay, Olive? What’s going on?”

“Commander needs you both at the station, ASAP. There’s been a disappearance that seems to be related to a chimera.

Akira sighed. “Alright. I’ll wake Aiken up.”

“‘M ‘wake. What’s going on?”

He glanced over at his sister, who was blinking blearily at him from the mass of blankets. “Looks like our leave is canceled.”

* * *

Akira glanced over at the passenger seat of the car while he waited for the light to turn green. Aiken had fallen asleep almost as soon as the car started, crimson hair obscuring her face as she snored softly. He couldn’t imagine what she’d been thinking when the Commander had told her that Neuron was being temporarily restructured to support _her,_ their only remaining powered Legionis. That was a lot of pressure for one person. One person with the power to save the world.

And really, that was what this was all about. The Legions were the only weapons that were capable of consistently defeating the chimeras. He, Jin, Alica, and even Dad, had been unable to control the Legions in the face of the sheer amount of redshift, but she had. Aiken, his kind, teasing, sister, had transformed into the terrifyingly strong Legionis that managed to recapture her Legion and hold the rest of the rampaging beasts off long enough for them to make it to the gate. 

What had given her that power? How was what she had done different than the rest of them? He had been so _close_ to recapturing his Legion, he’d been the only other one that had managed to launch the capture ring. Why was the Sword Legion sitting in her locker at command, and the Arrow Legion not in his?

His grip tightened on the wheel as the light turned and he pressed the gas pedal. He hadn’t been strong enough to protect their dad, to protect _her._ He was always the weaker one, the younger one, the one who needed protecting. Not anymore. He was _done_ hiding behind Aiken. He _was_ going to get stronger. He _could_ recapture that Legion, he knew it, he just needed another chance. He was going to protect her with his very life if it came to it.


End file.
